故宮書畫錄(卷八),第四冊,頁129&*故宮書畫圖錄,第十四冊,頁181-182&* 沈全,生卒年不詳。清末的《韜養齋筆記》載有一「沈全」,為江蘇人,字璧如,供奉內廷,善仕女、花鳥,不知是否為其人。圖中描繪一株老根盤繞、花朵盛開的桂花樹,下方的花盆並裝飾有「福祿壽喜」的字樣。「桂」與「貴」諧音,因此整幅畫充滿富貴吉祥之寓意。畫家以純熟的細緻敷染表現光亮的立體感,使此吉祥圖像顯得更為富麗堂皇。&* Shen Ch’üan’s birth and death dates are unknown, but a late Ch’ing record in Notes from the T’ao-yang Studio mentions a “Shen Ch’üan” from Kiangsu who went by the style name Pi-ju. He served the court and excelled at painting ladies as well as birds and flowers, but it is unclear if he is the same artist who did this work, which shows an old, coiled cassia tree in full bloom. The planter below is decorated with the characters for “Fortune, Rank, Longevity, Joy.” In addition, the character for “cassia” is a homonym for “precious,” giving this work even greater auspiciousness. The artist here used meticulous washes to express the three-dimensional quality of light, giving this auspicious work an obvious decorative manner as well.